BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Legislature’s Senate Democratic Caucus today elected state Sen. Troy Carter, Sr. as their new chair. A former New Orleans City Councilman with a distinguished career of public service, Sen. Carter will assume the chairmanship on the strength of his record as a consensus-builder with support from across the political spectrum.

The youngest of six children, Carter was educated in the Orleans Parish school system and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and business administration at Xavier University. He later served there as an adjunct instructor of political science, and was awarded a Green Foundation Fellow to Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. His political career has been distinguished by a series of groundbreaking firsts. In 1991, Carter became the first African American to be elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 102nd District of New Orleans. In 1994, his election to the New Orleans City Council representing District C marked the first time an African American was elected to that position.

Senator Karen Carter Peterson, chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said: “Our warmest congratulations to the new chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, my friend and colleague, Sen. Troy Carter, Sr. I am excited to work with him in his new role, and confident his leadership and acumen will help our lawmakers continue to move Louisiana forward”

“I am excited to take on this new role and humbled by the endorsement of trust my colleagues have shown me.  Our Caucus has some outstanding leaders not the least of which is Senator Eric LaFleur, who has led the caucus for the last two terms” said Sen. Troy Carter, Sr.  “We have only just begun pulling ourselves out of the hole our former governor dug for us – but we are committed to working with our new governor to find the best solutions for our state and our people.”

 

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